Measuring Willingness to Accept Social Robot Recommendations in a Hospitality Setting
(A2024-119750)

AUTHORS

Isha Kharub, Western Sydney University; Michael Lwin, Western Sydney University; Omar Mubin, Western Sydney University; Aila Khan, Western Sydney University

ABSTRACT

With the advancement in technology, Social Robots (SRs) are increasingly being used in frontline service settings and for providing recommendations. Past research has shown that recommendations impact customer satisfaction and lead to higher sales. However, as social robots are a novel technology, it is not clear if customers will accept recommendations from a social robot and how Willingness to Accept Social Robot Recommendations (WASRR) can be measured. This study will adopt Churchill (1979) and Devillis (1991) to develop the WASRR scale to provide a diagnostic assessment of social robot recommendations. This paper will discuss the scale development's first four stages, including literature review, thesaurus search, expert panel interviews and exploratory factor analysis. The final WASRR scale will help organisations test the appropriateness of using social robots to provide recommendations based on how willing customers are to accept these recommendations. Organisations will be able to adopt and adapt the scale to fit different contexts and ultimately, enhance customer satisfaction, organisational efficiency and productivity.